# Looking for a "Pretty/Cool" cigar band and a decent stick.



## El_d (Jan 18, 2013)

I was hoping the "Collective Smoke-Ring wisdom":smoke2: found here could help me out. I don't have too much experience with cigars.

I need a few "Cool" looking cigar bands( like Gurkha, Man-o-War, Ave Maria, big and attention getting) and hopefully, will get a chance to go to my local b&m shop this weekend to get a few sticks. Im looking for the cool bands that are ALSO a good smoke. Then I can look to see if the Cigar shop has them. Is that a rare find????? :noidea:

Suggestions would be appreciated.....:chk

Thanks.
Lupe D.


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## Nature (Jul 30, 2012)

I recently had a My Father Flor De Las Antillas. I really enjoyed the cigar and the band is a piece of art. In fact, it was the band that drew me to choose this at a local lounge. Reasonably priced also.


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## Stiks (Dec 3, 2012)

Do you have some sort of project your doing that you need bands for?


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## jurgenph (Jun 29, 2011)

ashton ESG; beautiful band, beautiful smoke.

J.


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## Nature (Jul 30, 2012)

jurgenph said:


> ashton ESG; beautiful band, beautiful smoke.
> 
> J.


That IS a beautiful band!


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## Smoke0ne (Feb 2, 2012)

The CAO Brazilia band is pretty unique and a solid smoke. OpusX bands are extremely ornate and very good. Liga Privada bands are simple and elegant. Undercrown bands are pretty cool, and a nice color scheme. Quesada cigars all have great looking bands. Padron anniversary and family reserve bands are beautiful.


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

There are tons of excellent cigars with really nice bands. It's not a rare thing at all.

One of my favorite cigar bands ever is on the San Cristobal, which is also a really great cigar. Plus it has a 93 rating from Cigar Aficionado. Why wouldn't you try one?!


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## neil (Aug 21, 2011)

Gurkha cigars are awesome and even though the MSRP is very expensive, you can find them online at some secret cigar websites (PM if you want to know) at a good price. i'd reccomend a Gurkha hologram or a scpec ops (it comes with an awesome knife and a sweet camo travel humidor)


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## Necmo (Oct 29, 2012)

In all seriousness, I like the My Father and Man O' War bands.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

:lol: As if the loss to SF wasn't painful enough for us poor Falcons fans...


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## fauxtrot (Dec 13, 2012)

Some of my favorite bands (which are good smokes too):

La Sirena
View attachment 74772


La Duena
View attachment 74773


Room 101
View attachment 74774


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## El_d (Jan 18, 2013)

Stiks said:


> Do you have some sort of project your doing that you need bands for?


Yeah, I got a chance to get some of my work/stuff into a b&m.

What I would really like is an Opus X.


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## El_d (Jan 18, 2013)

Those are great labels. Thanks for the suggestions, those are great looking labels. 

More suggestions are appreciated.


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

A band does not a cigar make. To my mind I'd prefer simpler bands & let the tobacco speak for itself but marketing is what marketing does.

N.B. Davidoff says you should remove the band from a cigar before lighting....Then you should buy the fancy snap on $3K? band that Davidoff make. ound: There are aberrations in this hobby & indeed some flashy cigars smoke well but it is not the norm.


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## neonblackjack (Oct 27, 2010)

I second the La Sirena. Definitely an attention-getting lovely band and I hear it's quite a nice cigar as well.

I've found My Father bands to be elegant as well.


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## OldSkoolTarHeel (Nov 28, 2012)

I like the look of the La Sirena, but how practical is it? You could smoke it for maybe 10 minutes before you'd have to take it off anyway. I read not too long ago on this very forum of someone getting distracted and smoking part of the band. From what I recall, it wasn't a very pleasant experience.


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## HIM (Sep 12, 2012)

Nature said:


> I recently had a My Father Flor De Las Antillas. I really enjoyed the cigar and the band is a piece of art. In fact, it was the band that drew me to choose this at a local lounge. Reasonably priced also.


+1 to this. One of my favorite cigars and my favorite label. Very elegant.


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## Smoke0ne (Feb 2, 2012)

Don't know how I forgot it, but, Viaje's skull/bones label is very cool and unique as well.


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## orion1 (Sep 18, 2012)

Nature said:


> I recently had a My Father Flor De Las Antillas. I really enjoyed the cigar and the band is a piece of art. In fact, it was the band that drew me to choose this at a local lounge. Reasonably priced also.


Like he says. Gorgeous band and very good smoke; one of my favorites.


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## Packerjh (Nov 29, 2009)

Diamond crown Maximus

And all kidding aside, I think the Gurkha Triple Ligero is a pretty good cigar with a sick band


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## Nature (Jul 30, 2012)

fauxtrot said:


> La Sirena
> View attachment 74772
> 
> 
> 2nd That!


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## Bad Andy (Jul 16, 2011)

I agree that the Maximus does have a good looking band. It is a great smoke.

I generally don't pay any attention to the bands. Other cigars that I like, that could be seen as having great looking bands are: Graycliff, Padron 1964 or 1926, Opus X (although you shouldn't expect a great smoke right away, these need some rest....), AVO anniversary, and I am sure there are many more.

Do you have a particular flavor profile that you like? Any other cigars you have tried that you are looking for something similar? Also do you have a price range?


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## El_d (Jan 18, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestion.

I totaly understand about the band not making the cigar but I am looking for an attention grabbing band that is at least a decent smoke, emphasis on the band. 

I have a part time buisiness to help supliment the family income and have an opportunity to get some of my custom pens placed in a B&M. Im looking for the attention grabbing bands that would appeal to the customers of the B&M. I figure a nice band would draw the attention of the noob's, like myself, and the decent smoke would attract the Afficionados.

This is the third "Cigar" that I have made, black walnut/buck-eye burl with a friends Gurkha band. I need to work on the ash end a little more with some carving to get it to look more realistic. Please excuse the crappy photos.

Thanks for the help Puff's.


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## alecshawn (Jun 24, 2012)

I think that Opus X has the best band....along with the best cigar. I also like the Padron anniversary series bands..they too are the perfect stick.
But, the Alec Bradley American Sungrown...has a wonderful band also.


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## Btubes18 (Aug 21, 2011)

Room 101 has some awesome bands...check their brands.


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## Stiks (Dec 3, 2012)

Pretty cool pen for sure! I'll round you up some cool bands I have laying around send them to you.


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## fauxtrot (Dec 13, 2012)

This is a cool idea for a pen, but I'm not sure how legal it is to sell them. If a rep comes into the shop and sees his company's logo being used for profit without permission, you could get yourself sued for copyright infringement. This is obviously worst case scenario, but I just figured I'd mention it!


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## El_d (Jan 18, 2013)

DOH!!!!!!! :doh:

That's right! :spank:

Totally forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder Austin.


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## fauxtrot (Dec 13, 2012)

On the other hand, I'm sure a bunch of us on the board (myself included) would be more than happy to trade you some great sticks for one!


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## B-daddy (Oct 29, 2012)

+1 on the San Cristobal; +1 on the Opus X (if you wanna spend that kinda money); and I also like the La Aroma De Cuba Mi Amor.


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## Habanolover (Feb 22, 2006)

I like the bands that have a simple elegance to them such as Tatuaje. Would love to have one of these pens with a Tat or a Cuban Montecristo band.


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## Damselnotindistress (Aug 7, 2011)

My personal favorites are also Ashton ESG, then CAO Italia, Alec Bradley's Prensado, and for attractive simplicity's sake; JR Ultimate and "Behike Alternative"-ha ha- that's kind'a cute!


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## El_d (Jan 18, 2013)

Hmmmm.......trades???? :smoke:

That's an Idea..... If I cant get 150 from the B&M because of the bands maybe I can get some cigars...... but will need a humidor first.

Ill see what the b&m shop decides. Maybe they will be interested without the bands. 

Those are some really cool bands. I could start my own personal collection.


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## LibertarianCigarMan (Jan 30, 2013)

No question in my mind that Padron does the best and most appealing cigar bands. When I walk into City Place Cigar here in Lynchburg the Padron section of the humidor on the wall immediatley jumps out and screams that this a high class quality smoke. The band is a big part of that. Undercrown I would actually rate a very close second as it is my favorite pub smoke with a good ale. Undercrown's band just speaks to me of a pub with good food, good beer, a great conversation about politics or history and a bloody good smoke.


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## LibertarianCigarMan (Jan 30, 2013)

Here's Padron's label


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## Regiampiero (Jan 18, 2013)

I don't really understand what a pretty band it's supposed to look like since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I got some ideas for some intricate and elaborate bands.

La aroma de cuba - EE, Mio amor....(anything with Don Pepin's name on it is good)
La Gloria Cubana - Series R or any of the artesano bands 
Perdomo Habano Corojo


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## kingevil (Jan 9, 2013)

I like asylum, diesel and both of the tat anarchy bands. Love gurkhas graphics, don't really love their sticks.


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## BuenoBueno (Jan 7, 2013)

Nature said:


> I recently had a My Father Flor De Las Antillas. I really enjoyed the cigar and the band is a piece of art. In fact, it was the band that drew me to choose this at a local lounge. Reasonably priced also.


VERY nice smoke and fairly large, pretty band.

Nice idea with those pens. Looks like they'll turn out great.


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## Nature (Jul 30, 2012)

Nature said:


> I recently had a My Father Flor De Las Antillas. I really enjoyed the cigar and the band is a piece of art. In fact, it was the band that drew me to choose this at a local lounge. Reasonably priced also.


The Band:


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## B-daddy (Oct 29, 2012)

I just now went back and carefully read this thread and realized you were looking for cigar brands/bands to use as the basis for your pen carving. With that in mind, I'll make a recommendation. You definitely have a copyright infringment issue selling these. You should sell these pens as just a cigar (without the band) and make it a means for cigar enthusiasts to display THEIR favorite cigar bands. The purchaser can put the actualy bands on the pen and show-off their own cigar preferences. Maybe include a glass or clear plastic sheath that would be removed to place the band. When replaced the sheath would protect the band. You (or rather the cigar shop) could display the pens with various bands on them. I know the clear sheath would be a pain in the ass for production but, this way, you're not actually selling the copyrighted images. Just my thoughts.


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## BuenoBueno (Jan 7, 2013)

He might not have many issues at all though. I'm no lawyer and don't really know what qualifies as "fair use", but judging from some of the things I've seen on etsy, that sort of thing might not be a big deal at all. I would check with an expert first, but yeah, just my 2 cents.


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## tatuaje09 (Feb 2, 2013)

This situation would not be considered fair use. It would be copyright and trademark violations.


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## El_d (Jan 18, 2013)

Yeah cigar company bands are a little dangerous to mess with. But what others want to do with their own bands is up to them. 

I guess I could design my own band and use it as an example of the possibilities. A little rubber cement and it will stay put depending on how it's handled. Either way they could get switched out on a regular basis. One week Cohiba, then Perdomo, maybe a business meeting Opus X.......


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## El_d (Jan 18, 2013)

I made two more and placed a Hoyo and a Rocky P band that I had on them.


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## GoJohnnyGo (Nov 19, 2011)

Cool art!


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